Part of the NRLCA New Contract.
The following represents some of the provisions of
the tentative agreement. Additional details will be
provided in a special edition of The National Rural
Letter Carrier and on the NRLCA website.
WAGES, COLA
• General Wage Increases:
o 1.2% wage increase effective November 25, 2006
o 1.2% wage increase effective November 24, 2007
o 1.2% wage increase effective November 22, 2008
o 1.2% wage increase effective November 21. 2009
• Cost-of-Living Adjustments:
o The second full pay period after the release of the
January 2007 index
o The second full pay period after the release of the
July 2007 index
o The second full pay period after the release of the
January 2008 index
o The second full pay period after the release of the
July 2008 index
o The second full pay period after the release of the
January 2009 index
o The second full pay period after the release of the
July 2009 index
o The second full pay period after the release of the
January 2010 index
o The second full pay period after the release of the
July 2010 index
Special Leave Replacement Provisions:
o Newly-hired RCA’s will be paid actual or evaluated
time for the route, whichever is greater, for the first
five pay periods.
o An RCA/RCR assigned to a route without having been
trained on that route will be paid actual or evaluated
time for the route, whichever is greater.
o An RCA/RCR assigned to a route that he/she has not
served in the past 12 months will be paid actual or
evaluated time for the route, whichever is greater.
HEALTH INSURANCE
• Employees’ share of health insurance premiums will
increase by 1% each year during the term of the
contract.
EMA, VEHICLES
• Equipment Maintenance Allowance:
o The EMA base rate during the term of the
contract will increase by 5 ½ cents.
o The EMA base rate will be increased by 3 cents
effective with the January 2007 adjustment.
o The EMA base rate will be increased by ½ cent in
October of 2007 to be effective with the January
2008 adjustment.
o The EMA base rate will be increased by 1 cent in
October of 2008 to be effective with the January
2009 adjustment.
o The EMA base rate will be increased by 1 cent in
October of 2009 to be effective with the January
2010 adjustment.
• Postal-provided right-hand drive vehicles:
o The Postal Service will provide 15,000 right-hand
drive postal-owned or postal-leased vehicles on rural
routes over a five-year period beginning January 1,
2009 and ending December 31, 2013.
• Right-hand drive incentives:
o The following incentives apply to ALL bargaining
unit employees.
o $1,000 incentive to purchase a new right-hand drive
vehicle.
o $500 incentive to purchase a used right-hand drive
vehicle.
o $500 incentive to purchase an approved right-hand
drive conversion kit.
MAIL COUNT
o 4 week count in February/March 2007
o 2 week count in February/March 2008
o 4 week count in February/March 2009
o 2 week count in February/March 2010
o All counts include opt-in language
o 4 week counts include a holiday
Miscellaneous Work Rule Changes
o All regular carriers provided two opportunities
each year to sign the Relief Day Work List
o Time to appeal to Step 3 changed from 10 to 15
days
o PTF’s eligible for court leave
o Retained “No Layoff” clause and added protection
for PTF’s
Other Provisions
o The parties reached other understandings on
contract language changes in various articles and
MOU’s.
The Offer (Why NALC prefers arbitration.)
USPS Offer to the NALC:
1. No wage increase in the 1st year of the contract/ instead a lump sum.
2. 1 percent the 2nd year
3. 1 percent the 3rd year
4. All COLA’s lump summed, (not included in wage rates.)
5. COLA elimination at the end of the contract.
6. Carriers with health insurance pay an additional $1300.00 per year.
7. Current employees pay an additional 1 percent to “Prefund” future retirements.
8. Big cuts in annual and sick leave, Night shift premium, Sunday premium and Overtime premiums.
9. 2.5 percent annual increase in uniform allowance.
10. Eliminate “No-Layoff” clause in contract.
11. Elimination of local negotiations.
12. Increase the number of Low-paid non-benefit employees
13. Permit managers to do bargain unit work.
